Shambala Ranch Hotel Shangri-La

... International ATMs are in most cities. We have been <br>using our Wells Fargo card. It is limited to 2500 yuan daily which is $350.<br>Transportation - Domestic air is expensive. Trains <br>and buses are cheap. The Chinese are excellent train engineers. The train we <br>took from Beijing from Tanguu covered 160km in 50 minutes. It had a top speed of <br>295kph. It was electric not maglev.<br>Language- Most Chinese do ...

... From the gorge it another 2 hours drive through valleys and along the sides of steep gorges before we get to Shangrila .<br><br>We check into our hotel, the Le Fung, in the old city before spending a couple of hors walking through the old city. Tonight we are going to a local Tibetan cultural show. <br><br>I would have to give today's events 11 out of 10.

... the original Buddha.<br><br>After visiting the monastery, we climbed up a side hill to look at another white-painted concrete pagoda topped and festooned with more prayer flags. Finally, we descended and rode the local bus back to the town market which we explored a bit before returning to old town. <br><br>While in town we had met with a pair of French travelers to attempt to reduce the cost of a 4WD trip into Lhasa. It became apparent the tour was impossible ...

... our mistake, found the right way, and pedaled our way to the village we were all starving, tired, and ready for a drink. We were warmly welcomed by an old Chinese man named Yang, who seated us in front of his tiny house/restaurant and proceeded to feed us oily Chinese vegetables and sweet bread until we couldn't move. A couple beer later and we were back at Mama's Guesthouse fighting off the inevitable exhaustion arising from our previous ...

... and round in a circle, clockwise. Up and down in one fluid motion to the tune of Tibetan sounding pop music. It's probably 100 people or more - young and old, man and women, babies, children, dogs and even few western tourists. There are minority outfits and tight jeans. There are cargo pants and leather jackets. There are cowboy hats and more traditional, pink head wear. I watch mesmerized. The mass of people moves without stop or delay. They must be ...

... the bus to add to the authenticity of the 7 hour journey. Another 'difference' is the toilets - especially the public ones. Without going into too much detail, all I can say is that everyone does 'everything' in front of each other - no privacy! So imagine turning the corner into the toilets to face four Chinese guys squatting doing their business - not ideal. (NB. the photo of the toilet does not contain any human waste created by oneself ; 0 )

... Jane's hostel in Qiautou at about midday, and set off at a cracking pace. The entire walk to Walnut Gardens is supposed to take about 11 hours, and we only had 6 hours to do it! We walked hard, but still took the time to admire the scenery, as it is amazing! We arrived at Sean's guesthouse in The Walnut Garden at about 5:45, so we had made good time. The feet were aching somewhat, and the beer on the balcony overlooking the Gorge rates as one of ...

... is located 105 kilometers south of Zhongdian County. The gorge is 17 kilometers long with a drop of 213 meters. The gorge is divided into three sections: Upper, Middle and Lower Hutiao. At the narrowest spot the river is only 30 meters wide. The mouth of the gorge is 1,800 meters above sea level. The river is flanked by Yulong and Haba snow mountains, with a height difference of 3,900 meters. It is one of the deepest gorges in the world. Upper Tiger ...

... at a place called Muma Naxi's, run by its namesake. I had heard that this place was near impossible to find in the winding back alleys and had been told to call them as soon as I arrived at the airport for a pick up. One problem though.... this is the first place in China my mobile doesn't work (I've got a feeling it will be the same story in Tibet too). This meant wandering the winding alleys aimlessly for about an ...

... and himself! The landing was also stupidly fast. We must have been going about 3 times too fast as we bounced miles back up after the first touch down. Checked into the youth hostel and went out to explore the old town. Dave stayed behind in bed ill, and not alcohol related as he went home before the clubs yesterday. The old town is very strange. There are loads of new houses being built ...